


Understanding

by ObservationalObsessive



Series: Puppy Eyes [2]
Category: Jessica Jones (TV), Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man - All Media Types, Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Friendship, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, One Shot, Past Child Abuse, Past Rape/Non-con, Past Sexual Assault, Peter Parker Needs a Hug, Precious Peter Parker
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-22
Updated: 2018-06-22
Packaged: 2019-05-27 03:11:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,868
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15015374
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ObservationalObsessive/pseuds/ObservationalObsessive
Summary: "It turns out they can relate in a lot of ways. Too many ways and ways she wishes they couldn’t… But they do and it just makes them closer. Because they both understand so much of what they’ve both been through, helping each other is easy to do. It doesn’t require a lot of words because they know already. But if there are words, they know what to say and what not to say."(Puppy Eyes Don't Work On Jessica Jones)





	Understanding

**Author's Note:**

> This is a sequel to Puppy Eyes Don't Work On Jessica Jones, which the summary comes from, though you don't have to have read it to read this.
> 
> If you read the tags, you already know what this fic is about. If that is upsetting to you, please don't read it. However, nothing is explicitly stated at any time, there are no flashbacks, and it's overall kind of vague. Hopefully not _too_ vague. ;D

The apartment door is open by a few inches when she gets home after staying out working on a case straight through the night and late into the afternoon. She stops in her tracks when she notices, narrows her eyes, then continues forward a little more purposefully.

She knows she had already had a few drinks when she went out the night before but she’s almost certain she remembered to close the door. 

Jessica Jones spots him right away once she pushes the door open all the way.

He’s stretched out across her beat up old couch, face down and curls sticking up every which way. There’s no doubt at all that he’s sleeping hard. If he’d been awake, he’s have sat up and started chattering already.

Jessica lets her body relax and rolls her eyes before stepping back out into the hallway again, pulling the door shut behind her. She knocks on Malcolm's door and doesn’t wait for a response before opening it.

Malcolm is sitting at his small table with his headphones on, looking at something on his laptop screen. He looks up at her immediately, eyebrows raised.

“Oh, hey,” he greets, hitting a key on his laptop and lifting his headphones off. “Haven’t seen you today. Any success?”

“Uh, yeah,” she answers with disinterest, a slight frown on her face. “Hey, when did Peter get here?”

Malcolm looks surprised at the mention and shrugs. “I didn’t know he came by. He here now?”

Jessica gives an affirmative sort of grunt and leaves his apartment without another word. She’s not surprised when Malcolm hops to his feet and follows her into her own apartment.

Peter’s still passed out on the couch, his backpack slumped on the floor a couple feet away. Jessica shoves it out of her way with her foot and comes over to sit on the coffee table in front of the couch.

“Hey, Spidey,” she addresses him slightly louder than usual and earns no response. “Peter?”

Still nothing.

“He’s ok, right?” Malcolm asks unsurely. He’s standing behind the couch and looking down at the sleeping teenager with concern written all over his face.

“I think he’s just sleeping, if that’s what you mean,” she tells him flatly, though her frown deepens and she doesn’t look away from Peter for even a second. 

His face is turned just slightly towards her and, when she leans in a little closer, she notices what she thinks can only be tear tracks on his cheek. As soon as she spots it, she straightens her posture again and looks up at Malcolm.

“Why don’t you go back to whatever you were doing?” she suggests a little more quickly than she intends to. “I’ll call you or something if I need help with him. Let’s just… let him rest, all right?”

There’s a confused crease between Malcolm’s eyebrows but he nods. “Yeah, sure, boss. Just… let me know if he’s ok, yeah?” He glances at Peter once more before offering Jessica a small smile and leaving the apartment.

The second he’s gone, Jessica wonders why she asked him to go. She doesn’t know how to deal with crying teenagers, does she? Malcolm is good at being nice to people, so maybe she should be the one to leave and ask him to fix this on his own.

But no, because she  _ cares _ about Peter and she wants to help him somehow.

Really, letting him keep sleeping sounds a little awful to Jessica because that means waiting around for him to wake up and tell her what’s wrong. So maybe she can try again to wake him up…

Saying his name again still doesn’t work, so she tries shoving his arm a little, which only causes him to squirm a little.

After trying again a couple times and ruling out water in the face, since she doesn’t want to bother with cleaning it up, Jessica decides to do what she said she was going to do and wait. If Peter isn’t waking up, he probably needs the rest anyway.

So, Jessica goes to her desk to keep working on her case. And maybe she pauses to look over at Peter every few minutes, just in case, but she still waits all the same.

When Peter finally wakes up, it happens slowly. He’s groggy and confused and his eyes can hardly stay open. Jessica decides it’s best to just stay at her desk and keep quiet. 

After a couple minutes, he pushes himself up and swings his legs off the couch, slumping against the back and rubbing his eyes with the heels of his hands. He groans a little and blinks tiredly, then turns his head and sees Jessica pretending not to watch him.

“Hey,” he sighs and is apparently too exhausted to even try to smile. “Sorry I crashed on your couch without asking.”

“It’s… fine,” she tells him and waits a moment before asking him, “When did you get here?”

Peter shrugs. “Dunno. After school.”

Jessica nods slowly, still watching him carefully. “So… just tired? You’re not hurt or something, are you?”

“No. Just tired,” he echoes her in confirmation. “I wasn’t planning to come take a nap though. I just wanted to visit you but you weren’t here, so I was gonna wait and then… I fell asleep a little bit.”

She smirks at his answer and shakes her head. “I said it was fine, didn’t I? I don’t care what you do.”

Peter narrows his eyes at her, a slow smile spreading on his eyes. “You kinda do, though.”

“Whatever,” Jessica responds, rolling her eyes. She stands up and walks over to sit next to Peter, now that he isn’t taking up the entire couch. “So… It is fine if I ask you what’s wrong? Looked like you’d been crying.”

Peter tenses and doesn’t look at her.

She very quickly regrets asking at all and is about to tell him to forget about when he actually answers her.

He says it quietly and every word is said carefully, like he’s concentrating on saying the right thing in just the right way. “I’ve just been having a difficult couple of days. I’m ok.”

A part of Jessica wants very badly to leave it that. If the kid doesn’t want to tell her anymore, she shouldn’t make him. Still, she knows him well enough by now to know that he isn’t likely to be telling the whole truth the first time he’s asked. That, and talking things out seems to make Peter Parker feel a lot better.

So, maybe she should push a little.

She grits her teeth and takes a deep breath. “Doesn’t seem like you’re ‘ok’, exactly. So… what’s making it difficult?”

Peter sighs a little and slides down on the couch just slightly. “Um… I don’t know. Just… bad memories and stuff, you know?”

_ Yes _ , Jessica thinks, breath caught in her throat,  _ she does know. _

But what Peter’s talking about must be something else. It could be almost anything, really, and Jessica isn’t sure what to say.

“We all have ‘em,” is what she settles on, though saying it makes her cringe a little. It just sounds stupid and she hopes it doesn’t make him feel as if he’s being dismissed.

“Yeah…” he breathes shakily, keeping his eyes focused firmly on his own knees.

Jessica knows that, more than likely, she isn’t supposed to drop the patient and gentle thing yet. But how often does she really do what she’s “supposed to”? “Look, kid, I wanna help. I’m gonna try my best to. But I can’t really  _ do that _ if you don’t tell me what’s wrong with you.”

He makes a soft, pained sound and drops his head back against the couch.

“It’s not like you  _ have _ to tell me, though…”

“No, I know… I’m just,” he cuts himself with a choked sort of sigh. Head still tilted backwards, he lets it flop to the side and finally looks at her. “Spider-Man had to help a little girl the other day. It was… more difficult than usual.”

Jessica frowns consideringly, then nods. “Ok… So you’re saying that you had a bad day and then remembering it… made you sad?”

Peter cracks a smile that somehow makes him look a little more pathetic than he already did. “Her name is Samantha. She’s eight.”

He doesn’t say anything for a minute. Something about his contemplative expression tells Jessica he’s just taking his time. So, against her first instinct, she just waits.

“She got separated from her parents while they were shopping,” Peter tells her, his tone deceptively casual. “I guess some… guy noticed her freaking out and said he could help. So… she went with him, you know? And I had to get Samantha away from him. And I did. She was… she was ok.”

“Well, that’s good,” Jessica tells him carefully. “Did you do anything to the guy?”

“Took him to the police,” he responds quietly, then shrugs, a hint of a smirk showing itself on his face. “And I punched him pretty good in the jaw.”

She bumps her shoulder hard enough against him to push him over a little and smiles proudly at him. “That’s right, Spidey.”

Peter rolls his eyes at her, still smiling a little. “It was just… I mean, I don’t really know. I - I knew… what he was. And I wanted to stop him. I needed to help her. Samantha. But then… Then I couldn’t stop  _ thinking _ and  _ remembering _ and…” He trails off and his eyes find hers again. They’re wide and completely filled with emotions. Fear, hurt, confusion, sympathy, maybe a little hope. “I know… that you don’t like to talk about your feelings and stuff. And I know you said I shouldn’t have to know about your past. But… but I know some things. So, I know that you… you understand, right? Because of what happened to you?”

Jessica’s eyes narrow again. She thinks that maybe she understands everything he’s saying perfectly. Something tells her that he’s telling her exactly what she thinks he is, even if he isn’t really  _ saying _ much at all. But sometimes Jessica wishes she weren’t so good at solving things and putting pieces together; she wishes she didn’t know Peter well enough to know  _ exactly what he’s telling her _ . 

She knows that she wants to be wrong.

“‘What happened’?” She echoes with as little emotion as she can manage. “A lot’s happened, kid. You’re gonna need to be more specific. Just say what you’re trying to say.”

And then he stares at her.

There’s still so much in his expression and in his gaze but, at the same time, Peter’s face is surprisingly blank. And all he does is stare. Then - and Jessica  _ hates _ this part for so many reasons - his eyes get a little shiner and his bottom lip starts to quiver.

Jessica hates it because  _ Peter is hurting _ and  _ what can she do _ and, worst of all by far,  _ she knows that she is right. _

“Please, don’t make me say it, Jessica.” The words come out sounding choked and broken and hardly more than a breath at all. He suddenly looks so small and she thinks he maybe wants to curl into himself until he’s folded himself away completely.

She stares back and goes through what seems like a million possible responses - briefly considers calling Malcolm back in the hopes that he can handle this better than she can - before she finally says something.

“When?” She asks him plainly.

His eyebrows pinch together. “I was nine. He was… I thought he was a friend. He used to babysit when May and Ben went out.”

Jessica’s jaw clenches obviously at his answer but she tries to stay composed for Peter’s sake. “What happened?”

Peter bites his lip and cringes almost painfully.

“To  _ him _ ,” Jessica clarifies quickly.

“Oh… He went to prison… I don’t know if he’s still there or not. I didn’t… get a lot of details then and I don’t - I mean, I don’t like to think about it so...”

She nods understandingly. “I get it.”

They sit beside each other in silence for a few minutes then, neither of them sure what to say next. Peter looks away again and starts to chew on his bottom lip. She’s noticed that he does this in all sorts of situations and for slightly varying reasons, though it generally means that he’s some degree of uncomfortable.

“Ever see any kind of therapist?”

He looks at her again, visibly surprised by the question, or maybe just by how simply it’s asked. “Uh… kinda. Right after. During the, uh, the investigation and stuff. But, I mean, I’ve talked to May about it, you know? Sould…  _ should _ I see a therapist?”

Jessica shrugs and tries not to roll her eyes, though she fails at that. “Dunno. Apparently it’s helpful for some people. But sometimes they have some good tricks if nothing else, you know? Like, I do this thing where I list all the streets I’ve lived on. Ever try that?”

Peter scrunches up in that way it always does when he isn’t convinced by something - and  _ no _ , she does think it’s adorable. “I’ve only lived three places… But - Well, I do have something like that, that I do… sometimes, when I need to calm down or -”

“Ok, so what do you do then?”

“Uh… Mostly, I recite the periodic table,” he tells her, and his shy smile is actually somehow audible when he says it.

Jessica raises an eyebrow and gives a short laugh. “God, you’re such a little nerd, Parker. The elements, really?”

“Really,” he confirms, smile growing. And yeah, Jessica figures that’s a good thing.

“And did someone  _ tell _ you do try that or did you just do it all on your own?”

Peter blushes then but the smile stays where it is. He shrugs and scrunches his nose up. “I mean, I was working on memorizing them all when it happened so… I don’t know, I just kept doing it. And it’s not just that, either. Just… if I’m freaking out or whatever, then… periodic table,” he admits with another shrug.

Jessica laughs again and reaches up to mess up his hair, shoves his head to the side and getting another smile from in the process. “So,” she starts. “You came here to see me… Was it about all this?”

Peter’s smile drops at the return to the topic, though they hadn’t drifted too far off at all. “Um… Yeah, I guess. I just… I’ve been really struggling the last couple days - after, Samantha, I mean - and I guess that I didn’t really want to bring it up to Aunt May. Because… well, she’s great, you know? She’ll always listen and be there for me and I know that. But… I mean, things have been hard since - since Ben. And I know that thinking about…  _ that _ is really hard for her too and I - I feel bad, you know? I don’t want to make things worse for her. And I didn’t want to make you feel like you had to do anything but I just… I wasn’t gonna say anything anyway. I just wanted to be with someone who… understands, I guess. Does that… make sense?”

“I think it does, yeah,” Jessica tells him with a nod. “And listen, I know I’m not very  _ nurturing _ or whatever, but, Peter, I will listen to you if you need me to do that, all right? Don’t worry about not saying anything. Just say what you wanna say, anytime, and I’ll be there. Deal?”

The smile comes back and he leans a little closer to her so their shoulders are pressed against each other. Peter is much more of a hugger than Jessica and his solution is shoulder touches, which he calls “Jessica hugs,” even though it was his idea in the first place.

She pretends to hate it but they both know how untrue that is.

Jessica rolls her eyes but doesn’t move away. They stay that way for a while. Jessica isn’t sure how long. 

Eventually, she decides it’s been long enough to start moving again. “Ok. Do you feel like talking more right now? Because, if you do, we can… But, if you don’t, I think Malcolm might be in the mood for ice cream right about now.”

Peter turns to look at her quickly, perking up immediately. “But it’s not even ice cream day.”

She raises her eyebrows incredulously at that. “Yeah, well, lots of emotions and crap today. I think ice cream seems like fair compensation. Come on, we’ll make Malcolm pay.”

Peter doesn’t have be told again before he jumps to his feet and grabs his backpack, slinging it over his shoulder easily. “Ok, cool! I think I’m gonna get peanut butter with M&Ms again…” he says, thinking aloud more than really telling her, as they walk to the door.

Before they leave, Jessica stops him. “Hey, I want you to know that I mean it, all right? Anytime you need help with anything, you tell me. Deal?” she asks again.

Peter grins warmly and nods rapidly. “Ok. Deal.”


End file.
